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_ London , _ GasawTEBMENi May 1 , 1822 . flAVE heard'with pleasure of the Iglorious Revolution lately aceompLished at Goa . The prominent part which you have acted on the interesting occasion , induces- me < to offer to your consideration some remarks on the advantages of establishing in that city a Free Press . I am aware that there existed a Press at Goa soon after
the era of Printing , but it was free only to serve the purposes of despots ism , ajtfd to issue the rigorous mandates . of a barbarous Inquisition . On this subject it must not be forgotten that the settlements of Portugal formerly extended along the coast of
Africa and Asia nearly from the Cape of Good Hope to the Sea of China , and , also comprehended most of the islands in the Malayan Archipelago , and that in all these places the Port u ^ gue $ e language is still spoken , and thus offers the most favourable medium
of communicating knbwledge , which , hjr the resistless aid of a Free Press , may . at iepgtb diffuse itself through the extensive regions of ihe East . It has been welTsaid , that in the inventiotl of Printing is contained the embryo which , in its matuifity , will annihilate the ^ la ^ ery of the human race * Hence I shall endeavour to
pmtee , tha t ^ a " Free Pfress , co-operating * Hfitb a . good , system of general education * ' must in \ && issue destroy bigotry and ( JespotifiHi in Indostan . , There are three principal sources
from whence the Hindoo society is susceptible of improvement : these are , justice , education and discussion The political , civil , and criminal laws of thejHindooa and Mahometliuis are
interwoven , \ yith , their tUeote gy * and the union of their divine and human codes has > a direct tendency to introduce ; Hpd tb . perpetuate despotism . The hi Production of a pure worship , and a jukt arad fcqnitttble code of laws , is therefore easentji ^ l to their welfare . The gre&t mass of the Hindoo * have , fro til tittle dmixieiBorial , oreceived the
tuaimeafcts ox education * . They have beea instructed in the febuloua t ^ les of thjeit-j jgbda- ^ tbeir cruelties ^ , their im ^ uio » aHtifl 8 I soiid ., their abomiaations . TWb ^ hrictomaj education has « ffwtur ^ U ^ itatOM sdfrl perpfetuate' ihev errors of ^ ra (^|^ s |[ . iandi-OttBtesaon ; wher ^ a , ^ for
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a contrary coai ^ e discipline , their minds w 6 uld have been enlightened and their ^ condition ameliorated ; A Free Ptess is ^ however , t ^ hat is ntost wanted ta accelerate ih ^ ir adv ancement , because the grand instrument
for the improvement of the miud is the publication of truth , ami , for propagating truth , discussion . By the collision of prejudices , where mind encounters mind , truth must be elicited . In this contest , Government should
observe neutrality ; for truth will most flourish where , lie commerce , it is left unrestrained . When the great Colbert proposed to interfere with trade , even by protecting * regulations , the merchants wisely answered , " Lai 3-sez noiis faire . "
History teacheS , that a reformation in the religion of the Hhidoog * cottkt not be effected by the intolerant Mahoraedan ; nor by the' Inquisition , with its synods ajid censors , and their impious decrees ; nor even by the
preaching of pious Missionaries - It cannot fail , however , to be produced , as in Europe , by the inftuence of free discussion . No religion probably ever deviate more frbm just principle than th ^ t professed by Christians durof
ing the dark ages , till the ^ ra the Reformation . The vices of Popeiy , the restoration of learning , and the invention . of Printing" , by whicli learning was diffused , united to produce that event . * JVlan awoke from the
lethargy in which for ages he had slept , ta contemplate the beauties of truth , and to exercise his reason . *? Luther was the first who opposed die profitable traffic in indulgences . The Pope threatened his . person , and condemned Uis writings to the flames .
Succeeding Popes wen ( farther than Xeo-Tljey rightly judged that a Free Pi * e «^ was incompatible with th $ support of their superstition ~ - their oblations , penancea , pilgrimages , rnortifieatkmsy mdul ^ encies , r and othe ^ f / buffb oneraes ^ •/•• We must put down the Press / ' aaid Wolaej ^ , ** or it will put us ddivn /*
All th ^ ir efforts were tfyerefpre direct ^ ed to this object , but the I ^ ffesg Iliumphed . The Popes proscribed ^ ttli heretical works , and e ^ ccotooimricat € 5 d all i who read them- - They caused th 3 ancient - ecolesiasticial - - wvltblgn / M be mah tf ifH and [ iat ^ olatcSd ^ pn s | aged to lie erased , andLads ^ e iiuotwfi . An
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^ eMretti&Indfi ^ f , Z 29
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voh . 5 cvir . 5 a
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1822, page 729, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2519/page/9/
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